A 16-year-old Egyptian girl died of bird flu yesterday, the third fatal human case of the deadly disease in the populous north African country, the State Information Service announced.

Iman Mohamed Abdel Gawwad, who was from Ashmoun village in Menoufia province, 65 km north of Cairo, was taken to a local Hospital on Wednesday night with very high temperature and breathing, stomach problems, reported the official MENA news agency, citing a statement of the State Information Service.

Doctors said that she was suffering from an advanced stage of bird flu.

The girl had been in contact with sick birds at home which she did not report to authorities, said the report, adding that her case developed rapidly and she died on Thursday morning. Health authorities have adopted emergent measures to contain the spread of bird flu in the area.

Earlier, Egypt announced that a total of 11 people had been infected with the deadly disease in the country.

Egypt reported its first fatal human bird flu case on March 18 and the second on March 27, both of whom were women.

The World Health Organization has verified that four Egyptians have caught the deadly H5N1 strain, including the two who died. Egypt found its first outbreak of bird flu in poultry on Feb. 17.

The Egyptian government has taken tough measures to curb the spread of the fatal disease.

The deadly H5N1 strain has killed over 100 people worldwide since its latest outbreak in southeast Asia in late 2003, according to the World Health Organization.

Most victims were infected after close contact with sick birds.

The virus currently can only jump from birds to humans, but scientists fear that it could mutate into a form capable of passing easily among humans and thus spark a global pandemic.